John Hartzell Stouffer, August 26, 1927 (Santa Ana, Calif.) - March 19, 2016 (East Greenwich, RI)
VP candidate for Independent (1976)
Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 71,981 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
After US Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) failed to secure the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 1968, a number of his followers campaigned for him as a third party candidate. McCarthy himself did not approve and in many but not all cases was able to have his name removed from the ballot. Different states ran his name under various party names with a variety of running mates, some of whom who were also not too thrilled to be listed: Coretta Scott King, Paul Newman, Dick Gregory, Paul O'Dwyer, and John Lindsay.
McCarthy made a brief foray into the Democratic Party primaries of 1972 but did not generate a lot of excitement. At some point after he dropped out of the race he left the Party, declared himself an Independent, and began a political journey to what could be described as libertarian centrism. As an Independent Presidential candidate in 1976 he is frequently better remembered for his high-profile legal battles to gain ballot access for third parties than for his political platform.
His 1976 VP situation made 1968 look tame. He was on the ballot in 29 states and a registered write-in in a few others. He had over 20 running mates. McCarthy himself said, "Vice-presidential candidates just clutter up the campaign. We should not ask the country to make two judgments. Everyone knows vice presidents have no influence on presidents once elected. Presidents' wives have much more influence. Perhaps we should have candidates' wives debate."
McCarthy's running-mate in Delaware, Massachusetts, and Utah was John H. Stouffer of Hingham, Mass. Finding a place on the Delaware ballot required a major court case, McCarthy v. Tribbitt, 421 F. Supp. 1193 (D. Del. 1976), but from what I can ascertain somehow Stouffer's name did not appear on the ballot alongside McCarthy's in that state even though he was part of the legal case. Massachusetts and Utah, also jurisdictions requiring legal hoops, did include Stouffer.
The McCarthy ticket finished with 65,637 (2.58%) in Massachusetts (McCarthy's third strongest finish in the country), 2437 (1.03%) in Delaware, and 3907 (0.72%) in Utah. Nationally McCarthy won 0.91% of the popular poll.
Election history: none
Other occupations: high school science teacher
Buried: East Greenwich Cemetery (East Greenwich, RI)
Notes:
Enjoyed sailing.
Raised at first in Laramie, Wyoming then Wheatland, Iowa.
Supported US Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) for President in the 1992 primary elections.
Wife Caroline was a Democratic member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives.
Was a frequent Boston Globe letter to the editor writer.
